Final Destination: The Road Not Taken
by Lone Archer
Summary: When the ripples left by the survival of the Route 180 and Devil's Flight victims spread, two intertwining lists are created. And when a growing theory states that if one list completely dies, the other is saved, it becomes an internal fight for survival.
1. 1: Flashes of Silver

_**Final Destination: The Road Not Taken**_

_-1-_

Marcus Williams coughed into his arm as fumes from spray-painting a wall filled the room. Bursts of red splattered across the white wall in uneven globs. He shook his head and coughed again. He was almost done with this job but he was running out of paint quickly. To make matters worse, he was starting to feel a little bit light-headed.

"I wish this room had windows," he muttered to himself as he desperately tried to cover a last area of white with what little paint he had left.

The paint started coming out more sporadically and in stranger chunks. It splattered on the wall and himself indiscriminately, making him feel more and more tired. Something just didn't feel right to him, but he shook it off as a side effect of the fumes.

_'Maybe I should take a break,'_ he thought, but shook his head in perseverance, _'I'm almost done, though. Once this is done I can finally go for good.'_

He shook the bottle of spray-paint again to no avail. Again, and all that happened was a burst of air rushing out. In frustration, he threw the can down onto the ground. _BAM!_ The sound of a small explosion took him by surprise as one last rupture of red paint erupted from the can, showering itself all over the bottom of the wall and his shoes.

"Fuck!"

He lifted a foot to take off a show but lost his balance and fell on his back, bumping his head lightly against one of the painted walls, smearing red paint on the back of his head. Already light-headed from the fumes, his eyes fluttered for a few seconds before they finally closed.

Flashes of silver filled the blackness of his vision, worming around as wisps of sentient smoke. He saw his best friend Jeremy looking over the edge of something. He tried to get closer to him, but it was just an image, ephemeral and haunting. Jeremy turned to look at him, their eyes meeting. Could he see him? He tried to wave, but he couldn't tell if he had a physical body. Regardless, Jeremy smiled and waved back, but in a flash of silver his face was replaced by a skull and Marcus screamed slamming his hands against a nearby chair to hold himself up.

His eyes opened and he saw himself in the hazy red room. He had slammed his hands against one of the wet red walls, smearing it all over his fingers and shirt. The back of his head felt wet. He groaned, realizing there was paint dripping from his hair.

Marcus used the wall to steady himself as he trudged to the door.

_'It's this goddamn paint. Lady needs to buy a window.'_

He opened the door and coughed repeatedly in the adjacent room. Screw it. There was no point in staying any longer. He'd come back another day. Besides, the paycheck wasn't worth this.

He walked slowly outside to the woman's backyard where his bag was but the bright sunlight made him shield his eyes. He still wasn't feeling well and he was starting to develop a blunt headache, probably from hitting his head against the wall. He picked up his bag, but before he could sling it around his shoulder, he noticed a beautiful pool. He wanted to go swimming.

Marcus giggled a little bit. He knew he shouldn't, but the lady wasn't even home. He could do it before anyone noticed. He put his bag down at the edge of the table and started removing his clothes. He sat at the edge of the pool and stuck one of his feet in first. Immediately, red from the paint began spreading out across the water but right before he jumped in, his bag fell from its perch atop the table, spilling its contents all along the ground.

Among those was a train ticket.

Marcus immediately jumped back and tore his foot out of the water, catching the ticket right before it fell into the water. Instead of getting into the pool, he started piling his belongings back in his bag, just seconds before his light-headedness took over him and he fell into a face-down slumber.

His foot fell back into the pool, spreading paint all throughout the water.


	2. 2: A Beautiful Morning

_-2-_

The sky was a stunningly unnatural shade of pastel blue on a beautiful Saturday morning. Kendall Peli took another bite out of a vanilla ice cream cone, careful not to let her sleek black hair touch her food. She was a gorgeous girl with dark skin, brown eyes, and naturally arched eyebrows. She was a both a runner and a volleyball player at her college and sported an athletic body as a result.

She walked alongside the water on a boardwalk spanning the length of the shore with three of her friends Tyler, Cassandra, and Elijah, also all runners and thus sporting athletic physiques. Cassandra kissed her boyfriend Tyler on the cheek before putting her arm around her best friend.

"I am so excited for this, Kendall. Remind me to thank your parents again for the tickets."

"Hey, it's no problem," she replied, "my mom just couldn't make it because she's not feeling well so my dad stayed behind with her."

"Still, this is ridiculously lucky," Cassandra hugged her friend yet again and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm offended," quipped Elijah, "I'm the only one you haven't kissed."

"The last time I brought that up, she got really angry," smiled Tyler.

"I am not a slut!" Cassandra argued in feigned offense but failing to suppress a smile.

Tyler picked up a rock lying on the boardwalk and through it into the ocean, watching it fail to skip. Elijah snorted and picked up another stone.

"Let me show you how this is done."

He threw the stone at a perfect angle and the group watched the stone bounce across the surface of the water not one, but four times.

"I can beat that," challenged Tyler.

He gathered a small handful of stones and proceeded to throw them one-by-one into the water. His handful of seventeen stones each fell into the water, and only one didn't sink immediately. Instead, it skipped just three times.

"Finally," remarked Elijah with a playful smirk on his face.

The four friends continued walking, not noticing some of the stones being sucked into the propeller of a nearby cruise ship, jamming themselves into the inner workings.

Kendall and her friends lined up at the edge of the pier to board the luxury cruise liner. In front of them were dozens of people excitedly chatting with each other about the exciting three day trip. Kendall had been waiting for months for this but her friends had just heard of the trip a day or so ago.

Elijah hugged his friends and waved, "I got to go, guys, but have fun!"

Kendall had only two extra tickets for the cruise ship but needed someone to drive her and her friends there and back. Elijah, being the good friend that he was, volunteered.

"Don't do anything too stupid. I'll see you at the end!" He gingerly hopped down the stairs of the pier and walked away to his car.

"I wish he could have come with us," said Cassandra.

"Me too," Tyler agreed.

Kendall and her friends boarded the luxury cruise liner. She saw nearby the group of students from her school on the honors student field trip, where they got a free trip on the SS Hice for being at the top of their class. Among them were Will, an awkward but well-dressed young man, Bianca, a regal girl with glasses, a stylish afro, and always accompanied by her favorite novel _Love Lays Dying_, Jill, an aspiring model, and Aaron, a superb swimmer and student. Also with them were Mr. Bruce Ferrara, the president of the honors college and Helen, a student teaching assistant and Mr. Ferrara's secretary.

Kendall, Tyler, and Cassandra took their seats near the edge of the boat, waiting for it to take off. The boat let out a playful horn toot to announce its impending departure, just as Aaron yelled and performed a cannonball on the deck pool.

"We should go swimming!" exclaimed Cassandra excitedly in reaction, "Doesn't it look like it'd be a lot of fun?"

"I think I'll pass," responded Kendall, "But you go on ahead."

Cassandra shrugged and changed out of her clothes before running off to the pool. Nearby, Will complained of bird feces that had just landed on his hair. He shuffled off to the bathroom to wash it off.

Kendall leaned back and grinned at Tyler. Whatever happened, they were going to have the time of their lives. As her eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight, she noticed a gorgeous vintage train at a station located on a cliff above the shore. Its path started parallel to the shore for quite a while. It was beautiful.

Kendall made a mental note to make sure to board the train one day. The train let off a puff of smoke and a loud horn, signaling its own impending departure.

Tyler gasped quietly, "Think how awesome it'd be for our cruise to leave at the same time as the boat. It'd be so cinematic."

Kendall silently nodded. It would be cinematic indeed.

With another loud horn, the cruise began to start, just as the nearby train began to move as well.


	3. 3: Understanding

_-3-_

"Hey, come on! What are you staring at, Marcus?" shouted Jeremy as he clambered onto a gorgeous vintage train, "Hurry up! You're going to miss it!"

Marcus shook his head to alert himself and looked around. He could barely remember how he had gotten there. He ran towards the entrance of one of the cars and grabbed Jeremy's hand to get onto the train.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? You've been acting funny all day."

Marcus shrugged, "You know Ms. Olson? I did a paint job for her yesterday. Crazy shit happened. All I know is, she needs some fucking windows in her rooms."

Jeremy laughed and shook his head before finding an empty, long cushioned seat for the both of them. The train was filled with rows and rows of comfortable cushioned benches with tables between each pair that faced each other. To his right, Marcus noticed two relatively young men speaking heatedly about something, and a woman trying to mediate. It sounded like she was both of their therapists.

One of the men stood up, "Fine. I can see that I'm not wanted here."

The Asian woman shook her head and followed him, "Ed, that's not it at all. I'm here working with Jake. It's just not your time."

"It's never my time, is it?" replied Ed abrasively.

"Don't be ridiculous. We have an appointment scheduled, but I'm working with Jake right now. Please, Ed, walk away."

Ed glared at the sitting Jake and stormed off towards the back of the train. The woman sat back down and apologized profusely to her other patient, who was smoking out of anxiety.

A girl with pale skin and jet black hair boarded the train and accidentally dropped her electronic reading device next to Marcus and Jeremy's table. She bent down to pick it up but hit her head on the bottom of the table. Jeremy laughed with her while she got back up again, noting that from his angle he could see up her skirt.

"I'm so sorry. I look like an idiot. I'm Laura."

Jeremy shook her hand, "Nice to meet you."

She took a seat across from the boys. Soon enough, a woman with an earpiece boarded, speaking quickly and deliberately into it. She sat directly behind the two boys, bombarding her earpiece with precise, meticulous instructions.

And with that, the train took off. Marcus loved the sound of trains. There was something about the constant rhythm that was extremely relaxing. And it was such a beautiful day outside as well. He turned to look outside of his window and noticed a small crack on it. It was nothing to worry about, but he couldn't help feel a little uncomfortable as it started to line up perfectly with a cruise ship below.

Suddenly, the entire truck shook. Almost as abruptly, it stopped.

Jeremy glanced at his friend, "What was that all about?"

He got up and started making his way to the front, "I have to go to the bathroom." He clambered past the therapist and her patient, someone absorbed in painting the moving countryside, and a young man that very clearly looked under the influence of something before reaching the door that would connect to a car with a bathroom.

He opened the door and exited the room onto the transition catwalk and approached the door to the other car. The entire train shook violently again, knocking Jeremy off his perch and onto the tracks where he was immediately crushed by the car he had just exited.

The painter girl screamed as red splattered across her window, blocking whatever beautiful view she was just emulating. As if on cue, she accidentally knocked over a cup of red-based paint, spilling on top of her painting to match her view. Some red paint began to seep backwards down the train car.

The entire train began to tilt to one side as each car tore through Jeremy and the earth began to shake even more violently. Marcus tried to scream over the noise of train, earth, and people.

"Jeremy! Jeremy, where are you?"

The luggage rack above his seat began to shake and Laura, frightened out of her mind, stood up and ran into the center aisle between rows of seats. The train abruptly jolted to the other side, sending rows and rows of heavy suitcases over where she once sat and onto her head. All she felt for seconds were weights battering her head. She fell to the ground, dizzy and dripping a small trail of blood, when the train jolted back to the other side once more. One of the tables broke free of its restraints and came sliding down the aisle, ramming itself into Laura's stomach and trapping her against a wall as she passed out and bled to death.

Suitcases from the other side began falling now, shattering through windows and slamming itself into Jake's head. Elizabeth tried to grab hold of him, but he lost his balance and fell, scraping his back on the broken glass of a window, and falling straight out. In the chaos, Jake's cigarette, still lit, landed on the center aisle and rolled with the tilt of the train into the painter's long trail of alcohol-based paint. A fire erupted in the center aisle, climbing both ways to the front and back of the train.

By now all the passengers were fleeing from their seats, some trying to exit to the front car and some to the back. The man not in his right mind stood up and tried to make his way to the back of the car, sliding slightly into the fire as he became the victim of minor singes. The train rocked again, pushing the tilt further to the left, forcing the man to slide through the fire and out the window.

He screamed as loudly as he could while he fell farther and farther down, gasping as he saw a luxury cruise liner below him and a red-headed girl just standing up from a ducking position. Before she could even look up, he fell and crushed her, and the two lay in a bloody mess.

The painter sobbed uncontrollably as she pressed herself against one of the walls of the train, trying to stay away from the broken window net to her and the fire prepared to engulf her seat. With each earth tremor, the fires grew closer and closer until finally, she was forced to climb onto the table. Another jerk of the train sent her out the window where she grabbed on the bottom of it. Her feet rubbed on the tracks, sending sparks down the line. She screamed and agony and finally let go as one of the wheels got on her shoelace, throwing her into the wheels of the train before tearing her shoe off and letting her fall to her death.

In the ruckus, the remainder of her supplies spilled into the center aisle. The fires slowly crept towards her aerosol cans and spray paint bottles, causing the rest of the train to panic.

Marcus fought against the force of the train to make it to the back of the train to join a small group of survivors trying to escape. The woman with the earpiece was climbing a ladder on the back of the car to reach the top of the train and the therapist was helping the once spiteful Ed up the ladder as well. Marcus wasn't sure they could all make it in time.

He was right.

The fire reached the cans creating a massive explosion which engulfed most of the small group, as well as the therapist, leaving only the earpiece woman on the ceiling, Ed most of the way up, and Marcus cowering in a corner.

Ed made it to the ceiling and extended a hand for Marcus, but he couldn't reach and another jolt sent Marcus sliding towards the fire. He managed to grab onto part of one of the sofa benches and clung on for dear life.

He began to climb back up the benches trying to reach the ladder when he saw the woman with the earpiece climbing back down the ladder to try to extend her own hand. He knew what he needed to do. With all of his willpower, he forced his way towards the woman, with her screaming at him the entire time.

"You're almost there!" she screamed, tears of determination streaming down her eyes. The train let out a horrible groan as Ed leaned over the back of the car.

"The front car just detached!" he screamed, "We don't have an engine anymore!"

Their car jolted again, sending the woman with the earpiece off the ladder. She grabbed at a window on her way down, catching her, but digging sharp shards of glass into her palms. She screamed as the train twisted and turned, forcing the glass to move this way and that in her skin.

Ed stood up on top of the car and turned around to see how long it would take before they would stop. His eyes widened in terror as he noticed a light pole planted in the ground growing larger and larger as the train car speeded towards it. The horizontal section stationed over the tracks, hit him in the stomach, but he was smart enough to let go and fall back on top of the train before it passed him.

Grinning in satisfaction, he shook himself off and stood up again, only to come in contact with hanging telephone lines, which snapped at his touch, electrocuted him and ripped apart swinging across the expanse. His body lay charred on the top of the train, where it rolled like a log off the side.

The woman with the earpiece screamed as his body fell right outside her broken window, his charred fingers briefly making contact with hers as the pain from the glass increased. Finally, she closed her eyes in resignation and let go, falling out the window on the other side. Marcus screamed in agony as he realized he wouldn't be able to make it to the ladder.

He held onto the bench for as long as he could, but eventually he had to let go. He slid through the fire, charring his flesh but landed pressed against the front of his cat. As if on cue, rows and rows of tables and suitcases slid down as well, trapping him against the front of the car. His head was positioned in front of the door to what would be another train car, but all he saw was space.

Finally, his train car removed itself from the tracks, sending the car off the cliff as it dove down into the ocean. He saw a boat growing larger and larger and a girl with silky black hair looking up in fear. He noticed her and she noticed him.

He blinked. '_She understood!'_ The last thing he saw was her face as he crashed into her.

He blinked again and found himself sitting next to Jeremy once again as Laura dropped her electronic device and bent over to pick it up.

The cruise ship took up seemingly without a hitch as the partygoers and students joyfully exchanged greetings of excitement. Below, the stones had ruined a propeller and were jamming themselves farther and farther into the ship's system.

Tyler turned to look at Kendall, "I should have brought sun block lotion. Do you have any?"

Kendall shook her head, "I didn't think that far ahead." She laughed, "Why don't you want to go swimming?"

"I'm fine with how I look, but God knows I don't need to be compared with Aaron over there. I think I'll stay here with my shirt on," quipped Tyler.

There were staff members grilling meat at the side of the boat and a small line formed with plates and forks. Kendall grinned, seeing Mr. Ferrara in line with two plates. He was an amazing teacher and always fun to be around.

One of the grilling utensils fell from its perch on the side of the machine, piercing itself into the gas tube unbeknownst to the staff. A quiet hissing sound began as the gas rushed out.

Will exited the bathroom, only partially successful in removing the bird feces in his hair just as the grill finally exploded, engulfing much of the food line, including Mr. Ferrara, and sending shrapnel cutting into the surrounding area. Will fell onto the deck, a shiny black shard embedded in the back of his head.

Everyone on deck had ducked on cue, including Kendall and Tyler who hid behind their seats. Kendall screamed, "Mr. Ferrara! Mr. Ferrara!"

Tyler and Kendall rushed from their vantage places towards the remains of the grill explosion. Tyler rushed towards Will screaming his name. Jill stood up, terrified from her crouching position, hearing something whistling in the air. She couldn't identify what it was, but saw Kendall and Tyler screaming at her.

"What?" she asked frightfully right as a man crashed into her, forming a bloody mess on the deck.

Kendall turned away and suppressed vomit as Tyler covered his eyes.

"We have to get Cassandra!" he yelled at her.

The swimmer Aaron, leapt out of the pool and ran towards the edge as Cassandra and the other swimmers tried to exit. He figured he would be safer in the ocean. He was used to it and would have a better chance of surviving and swimming to shore than on a collapsing ship. He ran to the edge still dressed in just a speedo and dove over the railing of the ship into the ocean behind the cruise. He landed in the water, but was pulled backwards by the propeller.

He tried to swim against the pull, but even his muscles and form couldn't save him from being sucked backwards into the disfigured propeller that the stones destroyed.

This was the last straw for the boat's inner workings, sending it careening wildly to the left and right.

Tyler and Kendall ran towards the pool holding their hands out to try to reach Cassandra. She was hyperventilating, preventing her from swimming as fast as she could. He screamed at her to hurry and tried to reach farther without touching the water.

Part of a train above them exploded in a mist of red sending shrapnel down into the boat. Bianca, still running, was severed at the neck by a particularly large piece. One piece was propelled diagonally to slice right through the safety harness of a prop anchor attached to a large chain. It fell from its position hanging on the outside of a building on the ship and slowly unraveled itself to reveal an extremely long chain.

Seconds later, telephone wires came swinging down, lower and lower as the telephone pole began slowly ripping itself out of the ground. Tyler's grip slipped because of the pool water leaving Cassandra to try yet again.

The pole almost completely fell out, leaning towards the side while the wires swung down and briefly made contact with the pool. Everyone within, including Cassandra, were instantly boiled.

Tyler screamed as Kendall pulled him back.

By now the cruise was shaking and turning uncontrollably, allowing the anchor and chain to whip around wildly. It rammed itself into the teaching assistant's stomach before launching her into the ocean. Tyler pushed Kendall out of the way of the anchor, but screamed as he saw a train car begin to derail. Debris grew larger as it crushed the athlete against the deck of the ship.

Sobbing uncontrollably and knowing it was only a matter of time before the anchor got her, Kendall crawled to the farthest railing possible and tried to support herself. She heard a scream and looked up to see a young man pinned to the front of a train car by luggage and furniture. For a moment, their eyes met and they understood. She needed to find him. They needed to find each other.

The train crashed in a heap on top of the cruise, leaving no survivors. The swinging anchor embedded itself into the pier, causing Elijah to turn around, notice the accident, and scream.

Kendall blinked and saw a seagull fly right above Will, leaving a trail of white in his hair.

"The boat's going to crash!"


	4. 4: Aftermath

_-4-_

Kendall screamed, grabbed Cassandra out of the pool and Tyler and rushed towards the pool. "Everyone get off the boat! It's going to crash!"

"What's the matter?" Cassandra ran over and picked up her clothes and bag, "Kendall, are you okay?"

Kendall sobbed and shook her head furiously, "I saw the entire boat in pieces. Everyone died and..." she pointed, "that train crashed into our boat!"

"Kendall, that's crazy. Calm down," Tyler put his hands on her shoulders, "Kendall, relax. Your parents paid how much for these tickets? How do you think they'll feel if you just leave?"

"If _we_ leave, Tyler. We need to go right now!"

Cassandra shuddered as she slipped on her shirt, "Kendall, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"Cassie, we have to go!" Kendall grabbed her two best friends by the arms and ran towards the pier. By now the staff of the ship was alerted and approaching the commotion. A man with a nametag 'Tobias' forced Kendall to look him in the eye.

"Miss, I need you to calm down and tell me what's wrong."

"I saw it! There was an earthquake and a grill explosion and that train crashed into us!"

Tobias shook his head, "Miss, you're not making any sense."

Kendall screamed at him, "We have to get everyone off the ship! Mr. Ferrara! Mr. Ferrara!"

Bruce Ferrara fan over to comfort Kendall before turning around to look at Tobias, "I'll take care of her. She's just tired, that's all. You go on without us."

Despite Kendall's increasingly loud protests, Tobias complied. Bruce led Kendall off the ship to the pier, followed by Tyler and Cassandra. Helen the teaching assistant ran off as well to follow her instructor. Terrified, Jill grabbed Bianca and Will and dragged them off. Aaron climbed out of the pool and followed Jill, concerned for her, followed by a middle-aged Asian man.

The party of ten gathered on the pier as the cruise began to move. Elijah ran back from his car to console a sobbing Kendall. All he could hear was her repeated cries of, "Stop the ship! Stop the ship!"

Meanwhile, Marcus was desperately shoving Jeremy and Laura out the doors of the train. Jeremy fought back, not understanding his friend's intentions.

"Dude, what the hell? The door's going to close any second!"

"That's the point! Everyone get out! The train's going to crash!"

Marcus's screams alerted the anxious therapy patient named Jake, sending him out the door in a second, leaving his cigarette behind. His therapist Elizabeth followed after him, shouting his name. Ed, her other patient, stalked behind her as discreetly as he could.

The woman with the earpiece started talking louder and louder to the recipient on the other end, "What? I said she has soccer practice! Soccer practice! Yes, George, pick her up at four. At four! Jesus, it's loud here, someone keeps screaming. Hold on, I'll go outside for a bit."

She left her seat and stepped outside to continue her conversation.

The painter shot the man under the influence a worried look, while he returned his gaze, "I don't know about you," he said glancing around, "but I'm getting the fuck out of here."

The painter took one last look at the country side, another at Marcus and leapt out of her seat, dropping two bottles of aerosol spray paint, one of which began leaking flammable red paint, unbeknownst to her.

Marcus pushed her to the door and ran back to the front of the car to grab a chattering couple when the doors to the train closed, shutting Jeremy and the seven other passengers outside. The woman with the earpiece immediately noticed and started banging on the windows.

Marcus's eyes widened and he ran to the door to try to pry it open, Jeremy helping from the other side. The train began to move at the same time as the cruise below.

"Jeremy!" Marcus yelled through a small crack in the glass, "Jeremy you have to find a girl on the cruise! She's Black, she has long black hair and she's wearing a white tank top! You have to find her!"

"Why?" Jeremy screamed back, but by then the his car was too far forward.

The woman with the earpiece ran after the train screaming, "Hey come back here! I paid for my ticket! Come back here!" but it was too far gone.

She returned begrudgingly back to the station, "Shit! I have to be at Pleasanton in fucking three hours and I don't even-"

The earth shook abruptly, causing the eight survivors to duck and scream.

Inside the train car, Marcus began climbing the sides of the benches as the lit cigarette inched closer and closer to the hissing aerosol can. Once again, the cans exploded in a mist of red paint, sending Marcus sliding back down to the front of the car, pressed against by suitcases and tables as he waited for his demise.

Kendall's group stood horrified, watching the train above dismantle itself right before a grill on the cruise ship exploded in a flashy fireball.

Jill ran back onto dry land and ducked, followed by Aaron who came to cover her. Kendall screamed and sobbed at the sounds of the dying. As a result of the train explosion, shrapnel came shooting down, severing the safety harness of a prop anchor and its long chain, which began swinging wildly while the ship was only feet from the pier.

Debris from the train explosion launched itself towards the pier, making the boat survivors duck or leap out of the way. Kendall watched as large slice of fiery metal made its way to her face, but Bruce Ferrara pulled her out of the way just in time. Elijah pulled Kendall and Bruce off the pier and onto land.

Tyler helped Cassandra up from her ducking position and pushed her towards dry land just as the swinging prop anchor embedded itself into Tyler's back, pinning him to the pier. Just as in Kendall's premonition, Elijah turned around and screamed at the anchor in the pier.


	5. 5: Audition

_-5-_

The school bell rang calling teaching assistant Helen Craven to her designated spot at Mr. Ferrara's office. He met her on the way, however, and pointed down the hallway, "Can you set up the indoor basketball court today instead? Some guys wanting to try out for the team wanted to have a short scrimmage before lunch."

Helen nodded and headed towards the gymnasium.

Usually at this time, Mr. Ferrara had her sort through papers or help him in his own classroom, so this was quite out of the ordinary. Regardless, Helen hurried to the old Browning Gymnasium. It was one of the first structures that Christianson University had built and thus always gave off a feeling of uncleanliness. It was one of Helen's least favorite buildings, but if she had a job to do, she would suck it up and deal with it.

The first thing she grumbled about as she entered the aged gymnasium was the lights. She flicked the switch several times to no avail until finally she decided just to wait with the light switch flicked on. After what seemed like an eternity, they flickered on, only to wane every few seconds. She shook her head and entered in the four-digit password to open the bleachers which were embedded in a hole in the wall. Just like the lights, it took a moment to even start before slowly extending itself out of its hole with an excruciatingly loud beeping sound, much akin to the beeping of a forklift moving backwards.

Helen then hit the switch to control the basketball hoops which, likewise, shook violently and slowly started to lower to a standard position. Before they could reach it though, they shuddered and stopped at awkward angles.

"This place is crap," Helen muttered to herself, furiously shaking her head.

Her cell phone began buzzing in her pocket, but right before she reached to retrieve it, another teaching assistant by the name of Teddy opened the door to the gymnasium. Helen quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket. Teddy was a fit young sophomore, attractive and intelligent, but he was also very strict about the rules; Helen wasn't ready to have him see her talk on her cell phone while on duty. It didn't help that she had always found him attractive.

"Hey there, Helen." Teddy grinned at her as he jumped up to pull the basketball hoops, which were awkwardly stuck in different positions, down to their natural position. Helen couldn't help noticing Teddy's muscular arms bulge as he did so through his sleeveless shirt. Her phone continued to vibrate silently.

"Hey, Teddy! I'm just going to get the basketballs."

Helen stuck to her excuse so that she could lock herself in the sound-proof room they used as a storage room. That way, he wouldn't be able to hear her talk on the phone. Helen opened the storage room and marveled at how stuffed it was. It was actually somewhat daunting. Regardless, she walked in, threw several basketballs out the door including one quickly losing air, forced the door closed (which took several tries) and switched the lock into the side of the wall.

The force of her closing the door made the ceiling light wing slightly, knocking over a small canister of tennis balls which released a single ball that slowly started moving down the highest shelf of the storage room.

Helen picked up her phone and sighed. It was just Jill. Helen and Jill had been best friends since they were randomly paired as roommates their freshman year. After the cruise ship accident that had them so narrowly dodging their deaths, Jill had gone into bursts of paranoia. She spent a week afterwards just tailing Kendall in case anything happened, much to Helen's chagrin. She just didn't see what was the big deal.

Yes, the event was extremely traumatic, and yes it was something that Helen was going to carry for the rest of her life, but in the end everyone just needed to move on- Jill including.

Meanwhile, the tennis ball reached a pair of hockey sticks, pushing them to the side and causing them to slowly slide down the large billiard table they rested on. The shifting weight of the hockey sticks caused the already haphazardly placed billiard table to start to slowly lean.

"Jill, just relax. It's been a week and a half! If anything was going to happen, you'd think it'd happen by now. Just stop worrying about it already."

On the other end of the line, the redhead aspiring model nodded and took a few deep breaths, "I know. I just... I just can't shake this feeling. It's horrible."

"Isn't your roommate around?"

"No, she's working tonight so she won't be back for a while."

"Well, I'll come over after I'm finished here. Okay?"

Jill nodded, "I'll see you soon?"

"I'll see you soon."

Helen hung up her phone just as the two pairs of hockey sticks fell from the top shelf, hitting her on the head and causing the billiards table to slowly shift back and forth. Helen blocked her head with her hands from the sticks and looked up to see the billiards table rocking back and forth. She screamed and ran to the other end of the soundproof storage room to try to leave, but even after unlocking the door, it refused to budge.

The table's rocks became more and more frequent, as the wood from the bottom slowly started slipping from its place on the shelf. Helen shoved her shoulder into the door over and over again, finally opening the door just as the billiards table fell. Helen dove forwards out the door as the billiards table landed in a heap with other sports and recreational equipment landing on top of it behind her in the storage room.

When she looked back up again, all she saw were a small group of basketball players already halfway out of the door. She realized they had lost all the balls because of repeated misses and couldn't find anyone to help them. All the stress of their dunks had caused the already weak and dysfunctional hoops to become even less responsive and pathetic.

Helen shoved the storage room closed, hoping that the freshman would get the blame for wrecking the place and thought to herself, _'Fucking freshman. They're never going to get on the team if they suck this much. And someone seriously needs to fix those hoops.'_

Helen got up and walked over behind the bleachers to find all of the lost balls. She had thrown out at least four. How'd they manage to lose all of them? She climbed into the hole in the wall and started crawling through the jungle of metal supports to reach the balls. She found one lodged under a horizontal support so she picked it up and threw it over the back of the bleachers back onto the court.

Teddy entered the gymnasium once again with his earphones in blasting his favorite classic rock music. He drummed in the air and approached the light switch, flicking it off. As expected, the lights just proceeded to flicker slightly instead of turning off. He then flicked a second switch to raise the basketball hoops and entered the four digit code to return the bleachers to their spot in the wall.

The flights finally flicked off and the hoops began shakily returning to their compact position. Helen look up aggravated and yelled, "Hey! I'm still working in here!"

But Teddy didn't hear her over his music. He left out the way he came in, whistling to himself.

"Teddy! I'm still working! Can you turn the lights back on?"

Finally, the bleachers reacted and began sliding back to their compact position. The ball that Helen was trying to reach started rolling towards her pushed by the bleachers. Her eyes grew wide and she dashed towards the other side of the back of the bleachers, not realizing it was closer to go back.

The loud warning sound drowned out any screams she made as she tripped over one of horizontal metal support beams and almost thrust her face into another support. She quickly pushed herself up again and ran, realizing the room she had was getting smaller and smaller.

Seeing escape just a few feet in front of her, she slipped on the withered carcass of a basketball- the same one that had been leaking air minutes before and was now completely squished. She screamed as she saw the bleachers start blocking out the light of the gymnasium. Very soon, even if she reached the end, there would be no way out. As the space between life and death became smaller and smaller, she tried to squeeze her head through the last crack, screaming all the way, but just couldn't do it.

The bleachers blocked out the light from the gymnasium. She screamed and threw her fists at the approaching behemoth of wood and metal. She knew it was hopeless, but she backed up to the very back of the bleacher's hole in the wall. She tried to flatten herself as much as possible in the hopes that she would be able to live just a little bit longer, but all she could do was watch the different rows of segmented bleachers start to line up and become just a solid wall of brown and black.

The horrifying sound of bones cracking and Helen's terrified screams were inaudible as the bleachers made one final prolonged beep to indicate its operation was complete.


End file.
